Metallic door



Oct. 20, 1931. J. c. WHITRIDGE.

METALLIC DOOR Filed Jan. 28, 1929 3 F Y V IHHHMMWHMHM. MUM NAHUM a. Q a J m 1 u r u M1 u V I m" H "m n m m N 0 r 1 u 7 1 o J n l l n. w m n u o u /O n n m 7M Hr i J L v T wlllllqllllllllllllllllIll-IlllI-lllllllllllllllJUM Patented act. 1931 m'rsn sm rasfrarsnr oFFi.

3'0 C. OF COLUMBUS, OHIQ ASSIGNOR TO THE BCOKEYE STEEL CASTINGQ COMPANY, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO METALLIC DOOR Application filed January as, 1929. Serial No. 3:25.571.

This invention relates to improvements in metallic doors, and especially to a novel drop doors, formed mainly by turning the edges and corrugati g a piece of rolled steel sheet, came into use, and in a more recent design, such1 doors have been made wholly of cast stee I The pressed steel doors, and also the doors built up of steel sheets and-shapes, are open to the objection that they do not have the redouisite stifiness; it being impossible to distri ute the metal most advantageously at corners andbther irregularities. Furthermore, a satisfactory fit between the door edges and car floor, is practically impossible to maintain because of the battering of the free edges, and the lightness of the material, and this results in heavy losses, by leakage of certain materials carried by the car.

The objection with a design wholly of cast steel resides in the fact that it is diflicult to cast the sheet portion of the door thin enough so that the door as a whole, will be sufliciently light in weight to be practical. The present state of the steel foundry art would require casting thesheet too thick to be consistent with the required strength of the framework, and'of the complete door. Attempts to cast thin sheets result in misruns,-- and increasing their thickness makes the door unneces-- sarily heavy. These'factors, through their bearing on the economies of production and manufacture, limit very materially, so far, the use of doors entirely of cast steel.

. In order to eliminate these objections, I

propose to make the door of a cast steel framework, combined with rolled steel sheet. By this combination, the sheet may be as thin as consistent with the strength required, and

the framework upon which the sheet rests can be made as strong as desired. The framework will include crossed ribs which not only support the sheet, but stifien the framework. The ortion of the framework which abuts the oorin is of substantial section and is not easily ent or distorted.

From the fore oing it will be appreciated that the main 0 ject of my invention is toprovide an improved door made up of a cast steel framework supporting a rolled steel sheet, with a view of eliminating the disadvantages of prior art structures.

With the foregoing object outlined and with other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my inventionconsists in the novel features hereinafter described in detail, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and .more particularly pointed out in the appended clas.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a top plan View of the cast steel framework of my improved door.

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view of the same, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 33. of Fig. 1, and showing a fragment of the car floor against which the edge of the door abuts.

Fig. 4: is an elevation of the outer or free end of the door framework.

Fig. 5 is a similar view of the inner or hinge end of the framework. I

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the framework, shown abuttin' at its hinged end against a portion of the cor of the car.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a detail, taken on line 7 -7 of Fig. 1, and showing one means of connecting the rolled steel sheet to the framework.

Fig. 8 is a similar viewof a modification, inwhich the rolled steel sheet is welded to the framework.

Before proceeding with a detail description of my invention, it may be well to call attention to the fact that when doors of the type which I have invented are employed as bottom drop doors for gondola frelght cars,- they may be opened and closed by the operat- 1ng means commonly employed for this purpose. Such operating means usually consists of a rotatable shaft which cooperates with a series of these doors, each of which has its inner end hinged to the longitudinal center sill of the car. The shaft rolls up and down inoupwardly and outwardly inclined slots provided in the body bolster and the intermediate supports, and each door has a pair of rails or ways on its under side, against which the .supporting shaft bears and slides. These'ways have an irregular but definite contour which is most suitable for the operation of the door, and must be so formed, no matter of what material the dooris made. Said supporting shaft'is generally actuated by a lever and pawl mechanism, and when the pawl is released, the shaft is permitted to roll down the slots and this allows all of the doors controlled by the shaft, to open and discharge the contents of the car beside the track. When the car has been emptied, the entire series of doors may be closed by moving the operating lever back and forth for the purpose of actuating the pawl and ratchet, and rolling the shaft, guided by the usual chains, back up the slots to the closed position.

Reverting now to the drawings, it will be noted that the framework A of the door is made of a single piece of cast steel which includes side bars B, end bars C, D, and a cruciform brace E, all integrally united.

Each sidebar is provided at its longitudinal central portion with a dependin rail or way F, and a depending marginal ange G, the latter being inclined as shown in Fig. 3, to cooperate with a similarly inclined surface H, of a doorway, that is located in the floor I. It will be seen that the portion which abuts the flooring, is of substantial thickness to prevent the same from being bent or distorted in use, and as the parts F and G are integral with the side bar' B, these parts mutually reinforce one another, thus making a stronger door with a saving in weight.

Each rail or wa preferably extends the full length of the slde bar from'which it depends, and is provided at its lower edge with oppositely extending reinforcing beads K, which. provides a track of irregular lower surface, as best shown in Fig. 6.

The outer and inner end bars C and D are also provided, each with a depending skirt'or marginal flange L, joined at its ends to the flanges G of the side bars, and having its medial portion of greater depth than its end portions, to provide reinforcement for the outer edge portion of the door. V

The cruci-form reinforcement E is made up of crossed bars M and N, and the ends of the bar M merge into the side bars of the framework, while the ends of the bar Nmerge into the end bars C and D. Said brace bars increase in depth from .their end portions toward their medial portions or crossing point, and each brace bar has its lower edge beaded, as shown at O, for'reinlie in the same plane as the games Y 4 forcing purposes, and the ends of each of these beads rises, as best shown in' Fig.3, and

of the framework, (see R) together with the above mentioned economies, that canbe taken advantage of in cast steel, effect a substantial saving of the weight of the finished door, as compared with other types of equal strength.

The rolled steel sheet ortion S of the door may" be fastened to the ramework, either by rivets, as shown at T in Fig. 7, or by weldin as shown at U, in Fig. 8. Such a sheet, if pierced accidentally or otherwise damaged, may be readily renewed.

At this point, it may be noted that each of the side bars of the door is recessed at V, in order to permit the rolled steel sheet to be counter-sunk in the upper face of the framework, and the uppersurface of the sheet to u per surface of the side bars of the framework By referring to Figs 1, 3 and 5, it may be seen that the inner ends of the rails converge as at W, and they terminate in hinge butts X ice particularly for a bottom opening in a gondola car, it is manifest that doors of the type which I have invented may be used on any other type of car to which it might be applic: able. Of course, if the design were worked into a present day hopper car door structure, the contour of the rails F would become unimportant, and the rails themselves might be: wholly or artially dispensed with, because the operating mechanism of the type mentioned would not be used with doorsof this E e. While I have disclosed what I now consider a preferredembodiment of'the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the details disclosed, without departing from the spirit of the invention, as expressed in the claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: I

1. In a door, in combination, a cast steel framework including crossed brace bars, and a rolled steel sheet secured thereto.

2. In a door, in combination, a one-piece cast steel framework including crossed brace are in and provided with a cruci-form brace, and a rolled steel sheet secured thereto and covering said openings.

4. The combination in a door, of a onepiece cast steel framework having openings therein and provided with a cruci-form brace, and a sheet metal covering for the openings rigidly secured to the framework.

5. In a metallic door, the combination of a cast steel frame and a rolled steel cover plate, said frame including an angular bar and a rail integrally connected with the bar and extending lengthwise of the latter.

6. In a metallic door, the combination of a cast steel frame and a rolled steel cover plate, said frame including a side bar of angular cross section, and a rail integral with the web of the bar, and extending lengthwise of the latter.

7. In a cast metallic door frame, brace bars provided at their outer edges with-reinforcing beads.

8. A cast steel door framework, including crossed brace bars having their outer edges provided with integral reinforcing beads.

9. A cast steel door framework, including side bars, end bars and brace members connecting the same, certain of said bars having webs, and beads extending along the outer edges of the brace members, and merging into said webs.

.10. In a cast steel door framework, an endless frame formed of side and end bars having webs, brace members connecting said bars, and integral beads on the outer edges of the brace members merging into said webs.

11. In a cast steel door framework, an endless frame having webs, a cruci-form reinforcement having its extremities united with the frame, and reinforcing beads extending along the cruci-form reinforcement, and

merging into said webs.

12. A cast steel door framework, including a one-piece endless frame provided with webs, and a marginal flange, a cruci-form reinforcement integral with the frame, and reinforcing beads extending along the outer edges of the arms of the reinforcement, and merging into said webs. g

13. A cast steel door framework, including a one-piece endless frame provided with webs, and a marginal flange, a cruci-form reinforcement integral with the frame, and reinforcing beads extendin along the outer edges of the arms of the reinforcement, and

merging into said webs, the arms of the crusame, and brace members having their ends integrally united with said frame.

'15. In a metallic door, the combination of a rolled steel cover plate and a cast steel framework, said framework comprising a bar provided with a flange, hinge butts integral with said flange, and reinforcing ribs integrally connecting the butts to other portions of the framework.

16. In a cast steel door framework, a onepiece endless frame having side and end bars, one of said end barshaving a reinforcing rails integral with the sides of the frame, hinge butts integral with said flange,

and relnforcing ribs forming ycontinuations of the rails and merging into the hinge butts.

17. In a cast steel door framework, a onepiece frame formed of an endless web having a continuous marginal flange, a cruci-form reinforcement having its ends integral with the frame, certain ends of the reinforcement merging into said flange, and reinforcing beads extending along the outer edges of the arms of the reinforcement and merging into said web.

18. In a cast steel door framework, a onepiece frame formed of an endless web having a continuous marginal flange, a cruci-form reinforcement having its ends integral with the frame, certain ends of the reinforcement merging into said flange, reinforcing beads extending along the outer edges of the arms of the re nforcement and merging into said web, a portion of the web being countersunk, and a metallic plate secured to the framework and arranged in the counter-sunk portion of the web. 1

19. In a cast steel door framework, a onepiece frame formed of an endless web having a continuous marginal flange, a cruciform reinforcement having its ends integral with the frame, certain ends of the reinforcement merging into said flange, reinforcing beads extending along the outer edges of g specification.

JOHN C. WI-II'IRIDGE.

ci-form reinforcement gradually increasing in depth toward the crossing point of the arms. 14. A cast steel door framework, includmg a one-piece endless frame formed of an endless web and a continuous depending mar- 

